Setting Targets: Finding the Balance Between Autonomy and Alignment

Setting targets is one of the trickiest tasks for any organization. The process is essential for driving growth, ensuring clarity, and pushing both teams and individuals toward success. Yet, it’s not uncommon to see a growing trend where managers step back and allow employees to set their own goals entirely as part of their annual plans. And while empowering employees to take ownership is crucial, managers also have a vital role to play in directing and aligning those goals with the broader business vision.

Employees should indeed be involved in shaping their objectives. When they do, they feel a sense of autonomy and engagement - they’re more committed because they feel a level of control over their professional path. But what can get lost in the shuffle is alignment. Without a guiding hand, it’s all too easy for these individually driven goals to drift away from the organization’s strategic focus. As managers, our role is to guide employees to set goals that not only bring out the best in them but also create visibility for them within the company while hitting business objectives. This isn’t micromanaging - it’s strategic alignment, and it’s the key to turning good results into great ones.

Quarterly Reviews: Adapting to a Changing Landscape

Traditional goal-setting processes often rely on biannual or even annual reviews. But let’s face it: in today’s fast-paced business world, that approach is too slow. Objectives that seemed critical at the beginning of the year might be irrelevant by mid-year. That’s why I’m a strong advocate for a quarterly review process. By revisiting targets every three months, managers and employees can adjust to shifts in the market, emerging priorities, or unexpected challenges. This cadence makes goals more dynamic and adaptable, keeping everyone focused and relevant.

Imagine a scenario where quarterly reviews allow a team to pivot just as a new competitor enters the market. Adjusting goals in real-time means that the team can respond with agility, seize the opportunity, and strengthen their position - something that wouldn’t be possible if targets were only reviewed twice a year. A quarterly approach fosters a sense of urgency and continuous improvement that a traditional, slower cadence simply can’t match.

The Manager’s Role: A Balance of Guidance and Empowerment

For this system to work, managers need to embrace a dual role as both coaches and directors. It’s about finding the balance: giving employees the freedom to take charge of their targets, while ensuring these align with the larger picture. It’s a win-win: employees feel valued and trusted, and the company stays on course. Quarterly reviews create natural checkpoints, offering more frequent opportunities to recognize and celebrate achievements. When targets are hit - and celebrated - more frequently, employees gain greater visibility, boosting morale and motivation.

Setting goals should be a collaborative dialogue, not a one-sided task. It’s about crafting a shared vision, identifying growth areas, and ensuring that targets are ambitious but achievable. In the end, it’s this balance of alignment and autonomy, and a commitment to frequent check-ins, that can transform target-setting from a task into a driver of genuine growth - for both the individual and the organization.